Disney's America

[SIR90210]

I live in southern Maryland, about 45 minutes north of where Disney wanted to build Disney's America. Against my better judgement, I went for a look to dee what has happened since:

*a retirement community
*a cheap looking campground area
*a strip mall
*and absurd amounts of traffic!

People say Disney would have ruined the area, but look what happened instead! The traffic is just as bad, if not worse than the traffic that would have resulted in Disney! Also, the area is really ugly! Northern Virginia developers apperantly can't keep any trees up! Does anyone feel the same way?

 

[trekkie]

I was angry when I read this a couple years ago. Actually, I only knew about the playground. Had no clue about the retirement community and shopping center.

So ... instead of a park that delved into history (a place that I'm sure Walt Disney would love), the "historic" area Virginia didn't want to disturb -- yeah right -- is now occupied mostly by shops and a cheapo playground.

 

[3IdAlienKid]

I do understand why the community was concerned at the time. It didn't help that Eisner was pretty presumptuous and stand-off-ish when the whole proposal was unveiled.

But it's really too bad to hear the community did nothing to preserve the historical integrity of the property as was their original arguement against Disney.

I still hope they can convert DCA into Disney's America. I can dream, can't I?

 

[trekkie]

Hey, it's possible . It would definately work; the sketches for Disney's America look very -- strikingly, in fact -- similar to DCA.

But sadly, converting DCA into Disney's America is probably unlikely.

 

[BigNorm]

This was probably the best idea that Eisner ever had. Too bad it never quite happened.....

 

[prberk]

Yeah, I know. When the Northern Virginia gentleman-farmers (horse-owner yuppies from DC and Hollywood, mostly) balked at the idea that their genteel, historical landscape would be marred, I said that they should have just built it in the Richmond area (near the battlefields of Mechanicsville, maybe, but easily accessible to a major road with little traffic congestion, I-295; or in Chesterfield County, near another major road, Rte. 288, but near or acquired from our state park called Pocahontas).

History abounds in the Richmond area, and we wouldn't been so haughty and quick to dismiss the development as they were in Northern Virginia (the D.C. suburbs).